Lake Lure Classical Academy — a Challenge Foundation Academy — will hold its groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 10 a.m. on the new campus grounds located across from Ingles Supermarket on Highway 9 in Lake Lure, N.C. The campus entrance is on Island Creek Rd. (from Hwy 9). Lake Lure Classical Academy is currently located at 2520 Memorial Highway in Lake Lure, N.C.
The event, which begins at 10 a.m., will include brief remarks by community leaders, board members, school staff and students. Following the ceremony, there will be a special presentation by the Lake Lure Community Education Foundation to learn more about the significance of building a permanent school in Lake Lure and how the community can support this endeavor through its “Raise the Roof” Campaign. The ceremony is open to the public.
Lake Lure Classical Academy opened its doors as a charter school on its current temporary site in the fall of 2010 when it served grades K-7. The school has added a grade each year and now serves grades K-11. In the spring of this year, the school board voted to move forward with obtaining financing for $9 million to build its new home on land that was donated by the Town of Lake Lure. The new campus, which will house grades K-12, will provide LLCA students with:
• A state of the art building with larger hallways, science labs and more classrooms
• One point of entry providing a more secure campus
• A single unified campus with separate wings for elementary, middle and high school students
• A location convenient to the new MAHEC medical facility, Ingles, hiking trails and golf course
• Improved school traffic flows for buses and vehicles
• Open land space on campus for outdoor athletic and extra-curricular activities
• Enclosed courtyard for outdoor classroom and eating space
The $9 million loan will cover the cost of constructing the school’s main educational building, but will not fund the gymnasium/auditorium structure, primarily due to rising construction costs. The current approved construction plan will incorporate all of the necessary groundwork and utility needed to prepare for the gymnasium/auditorium construction and building will continue as funds become available. In North Carolina, charter schools operate as tuition-free, public schools and are supported by state and county tax revenues. However, charter schools differ from other public schools in that no public funds are provided for school construction. Charter schools depend on community, corporate and foundation support in order to provide school facilities.
The Lake Lure Community Education Foundation (LLCEF) has spent the last three years carefully planning “Raise the Roof,” a comprehensive fundraising campaign to help the school complete its campus.

— article submitted
by Scarlette Tapp